Healthy Toddler Foods! Need Ideas!

Hi all! I have a 2 yo ds who is extemely picky. I know that many toddlers are. Heres my concern. He only eats a handfull of things, so i feel like im feeding him the same thing all the time. His appetite is growning. He eats every 2-3 hours, either a meal or snack. I have tried the try it 7 times and theyll eat it rule. Over and over.

Advise I have bee given is if he know he wont get anything else he will eventually cave. Well One when I know hes hungry I feel mean not giving him somethin I know he will eat. I mean come on hes 2. And two I think my son is the most stubborn child ever.

He loves most fruit, yogurt and cheese. He also like gerber toddler foods and with my best efforts to replicate these recipes at home with him refusing time after time. I break down and buy the gerber because I know he wont go hungry. I waste alot of food trying new things.

I want to feed him healthy and I stay at home so I have no problem making food from scratch, i just need some new ideas.

Also wondering if i am making to big a deal of this and should continue buying what he likes. Anything you can add will be appreciated. There is nothing I wont try at this point, as long as its good for him.

Comments (14)

I don't have a ton of advise... So far my 1 yr old has been a very good eater. I would try mixing some new things in with stuff you know he will eat. You said he likes fruit, last night I split a banana length ways, spread a bit of peanut butter on half a tortilla and wrapped the banana up like a burrito. He loved it! Or how about dipping foods, lots of kids find that fun. Yogurt can be used as a dip for lots of things. My guy also loves hummus as a dip or just spread on tortillas. Just keep trying! Thats all we can do.

Are you ok with gerber food? Do you consider it healthy? If yes, there is no big deal. If no , then just stop and offer combinations of whatever you consider appropriate food. Serve in the same meal some things he loves and some new things, try to distract him by telling a story, a song, bringing a book to the table etc, and keep offering. He will not starve himself and will not be hurt if for a while most of his nutition comes from yoghurt and fruit.

I would honestly stop giving him gerber now. Have you tried those things? They are NASTY! I've tried several different meals and those cups of soup/pasta and they all taste like mush. It makes me uncomfortable knowing they can just sit on the shelf not refrigerated either... what kind of chemicals are in those things?

Try playing games with him with the new foods. Even if it's not an eating game. Sit down with some carrots, broccoli and cherry tomatoes and count them, hide them, put them into big containers and let him fill small cups with everything. If he see's you eating them, he will mostlikely want to try them as well.

Like the PP said, he will not starve and if he's hungry enough, he's going to eat what you feed him. The main thing is to make it fun.

They also say to offer new foods at least 20 times to toddlers. I prob only get to trying a new food 5-10 or so before my 2 year old will start eating it. They need to learn to like it and advance their taste buds. It will happen over time :-)

Try beans - my kid loves kidney beans. Also I buy dried mango (no sugar added) at Trader Joe's and also frozen gnocchi which he likes. I try to give a fruit, a veg. a protein & a carb at every meal. But they all have to be separate or he gets mad. I just spread them out on the tray. But food issues always come up, there are no easy answers, just try a lot of different stuff and see what sticks. Good luck!

My child is just about 16 months so I can't speak to 2 yo stubborness quite yet - I'm definitely not looking forward to it. But some of my go tos for my lo are all kinds of beans - I just open a can, rinse them in a strainer, and let her eat them like candy. I also keep frozen ravioli (she really likes spinach) and veggie corn dogs on hand for when I need something quick and easy.

Look up something called "copy-kids". I haven't watched their little videos yes but apparently they're aimed at getting toddlers to eat foods, by watching other kids on the video eat them.
I like the idea of ravioli! And you make them yourself and put whatever veggies you want in them. :-) I also say beans, any kind. My picky 13mos old will eat black beans, baked beans, kidney beans, you name it. And the dip thing- my son loves to dip his Ritz crackers.
Good luck!

Have you tried mash ups? Omg, I don't know what I would have done at that age with my oldest without them! Veggies, fruit, protein...she would eat anything that she could suck out of that pouch. Now that she is four, she does have a broader palate, but two was tough for her! I still have the rule that if she doesn't like what I made her only recourse is a price of fruit later on in the day. I read somewhere to make it seem like it isn't dinner or fruit, so to keep it separate from the issue by an hour or two. That way they aren't going to bed hungry and cranky, but still aren't totally making the connection that if I turn down this I will get that because it was a couple of hours in between.

My middle child is two and a half and a much better eater. Many times though it seems like she thinks...ugh, today is a meat day...I will only eat all my meat. Or today is my fruit day. Or hey I will go on a yogurt binge today. Yay.

Sometimes I go with the "getting dressed" rule...where you offer them two or three choices and let them pick one. Kids seem to eat (and dress) better if they feel like they are in control of the situation. Lets face it, very few people like to be told what to wear or eat every day. I saw this very cute idea once where the mom had flash card like pictures of the food, and set a few cards out and had her daughter 'order' dinner. My four year old now is more apt to eat it if she helped make it, so some days I really try to involve her in prep some how. Occasionally that takes more patience than I have though.

Oh, and I also resort to gimmicks. They actually both LOVE a hard boiled egg, sliced in half, put the cut side down and then throw on some shredded carrot, cheese or even pulled pork, tuna or shredded chicken for hair, eyes, mouth, arms and legs. Silly I know but they always eat it. Too funny.

A sure winner with my daughter is quesadillas - and I put all sorts of stuff in them. If you mince the veggies, meat, beans, ect. the individual flavors aren't expecially distinguishable and the tortilla hides all the good stuff inside so they can't specifically see that there are veggies (or whatever) in there.

Since you said that your son likes the gerber toddler meals, have you considered keeping a couple of the trays and serving your homemade version in them? Maybe a different presentation will be enough to persuade your LO to try it.

Finally, I love to use spinach puree. I put it in quesadillas, eggs, grilled cheese, soup, smoothies, pancake batter, yogurt, everywhere. I figure its an easy way to add some extra nutrients.